Do they actually wholesale buy inventory, dropship model or is there something else?
And how much is their margin/mark up?
The "old" multi brand furniture eCom have probably been doing it the traditional way. Buying inventory and reselling it online as they would in a retail store.
But if you were to start a multi brand furniture ecom in 2020, I would recommend you start by reaching out to those established furniture stores and ask if they could dropship furnitures if you were to bring them new customers. You will be surprised most of them will be happy to work with you as long as you bring new customers.
On your end, it's a win win because you will get the same multi brand furniture for your store, without having to hold all the inventory.
Margin for furniture can go from 30%-300% - It really depend from where you are sourcing them and if you want to be a more affordable or luxurious furniture brand.
Hope that help!
Many drop ship. Many buy and hold inventory. It truly is a mixed bag and depends on how you choose to operate.
Most are on the dropship model these days.
These days (in the US anyway) most manufacturers will be used to this model and it'll be a whole lot less of a headache for you.
I'd recommend setting up a website with some example products (from shutterstock for example) to show the manufacturers that you're the real deal before calling or emailing.
If you have a great website that you can point to, the manufacturers will feel more confident approving you because they can see how their products will be presented. Make sure to mention your marketing strategy too and give them a locked in launch date.
Call around the top 50 and you should get approved from enough to get started. Call back in 30 days and point to the sales you've got in that time. You'll get another bunch onboard.
Margin is typically pretty good in furniture as it's a high perceived value - You might make initial calculations around 35% (varies wildly obviously).
